You're The Only One Who Ever Understood
by Miss Magic 101
Summary: Reese is seen as an idiot who has no friends by everyone, but he is really a very sensitive person. He just wants to meet someone who can see that. What happens when he meets Emily, his perfect match? Will they fall in love? ReesexOC
1. Arguments and Insults

**Hi! This is my new story! It's a Malcolm In The Middle story as you probably already know! I've only just recently rediscovered Malcolm in the Middle and it's one of my favourite shows so I thought, why not write a fanfiction about it? This is a ReesexOC story, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**Some of the characters are very quite out of character.**

**I don't own Malcolm in the Middle, this is purely a work of fanfiction. **

**I love to read reviews, so read and review! Pretty please??**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy it!**

**~ CHAPTER ONE~**

**ARGUMENTS AND INSULTS**

Reese Wilkerson was lying on his bed reading the latest wrestling magazine, lost in his own world and simply relaxing, for the first time in what felt like forever. Reese ran his hand through his brown spiky hair, letting his hand rest behind his head, while he read about the latest developments in the wrestling world. Of course he could watch these developments on the television, but sometimes he just preferred to read about them, and the inside stories of the wrestling world to boost both his intellect and his understanding of the wrestling business that he loved so much.

Reese was eighteen years old and he was about to start his final year at school. He hated school and he had never been very good at it, partly because of the fact that the teachers were prejudiced against him, believing that he should be a genius like his younger brother Malcolm, but that he was just lazy. Another reason why Reese wasn't very good at school was the fact that he just couldn't absorb the information that the school tried to hammer into his brain every single day, even though he could absorb a ton of information about wrestling. Reese did find a lot of the information that the teachers tried to teach him interesting, particularly when it came to subjects like History, but for some reason, even though he tried, Reese could not absorb the information and translate it into decent grades, even though he was very intelligent and very capable, despite what other people thought.

Although Reese was not very successful at school, he had a lot of practical skills and had developed a very practical and sensitive mind, which had made surviving in the crazy world a lot easier. Reese had quickly learnt that in his family and in the world in general, it was survival of the fittest. In order to make the most of this, Reese had become a bully. If he was honest Reese did not want to be a bully, he hated hurting people, but he had done it for so long that it was the only was he knew how to do to survive. Besides, because of his healthy understanding of the wrestling business, Reese had learnt how to fight and how to survive to such a degree that some people even feared him, even though he didn't want that.

Reese was very good looking for his age. He had brown spiky hair with blonde highlights in it, and an incredibly toned body. However, it was Reese's face that was the most endearing feature about him. His face was incredibly expressive and often revealed all of his emotions even if he did not want it to. He had a cheeky grin and excitable green eyes, which would allow anyone who looked deep enough into them to see directly into Reese's heart and soul.

Despite being renowned for being a bully, Reese was really a nice and genuine person with a kind-hearted personality; it just didn't show because people didn't care enough to look. Reese would always stand up for someone when they had no one else to do it for them, and he was always good at giving advice and just sitting a listening to someone's problems. He loved to cook and could be very romantic and quite idealistic and innocent at times. He would never leave someone in their time of need and if he had a girlfriend he would treat her like she was a princess and would make her his entire world.

Even though these qualities were present in Reese, and it was evident that he would make a great boyfriend, he had never had a girlfriend, and had never been kissed, because no girls ever wanted to go near him, which was a fact that had upset Reese for a long time. In fact, it was a well known fact that Reese didn't have any real friends, perhaps because people were scared of him, or perhaps because people thought he was weird. Again this fact had haunted Reese for a long time, but it was the reason that he had developed such a strong survival of the fittest instinct, even to the point where he had built up a lot of defences around his heart because it had been hurt so many times before.

A moment later, Reese heard a door slam. He jumped, as it had jolted him out of his reverie so suddenly. Reese wasn't sure what had caused the door to slam, but he had a pretty good idea that his brother Malcolm may have come home in a foul mood once again.

Malcolm had been in a strange mood all week. He snapped at everyone who tried to ask him what was wrong, and he stayed out late all the time. In fact, the night before, he had even been brought home by the police, who had arrested him for vandalising a disused warehouse. This behaviour was very unusual for Malcolm, because although he could be a bit of a rebel, he had never mindlessly vandalised anything. Reese sighed as he heard Malcolm storming around the house, and Lois, Malcolm and Reese's mother shouting at him, telling him to have some respect for his house and his family. Reese hardly ever agreed with his mother about anything, but this time was different, he believed that she had a point and that Malcolm should appreciate what he has and have respect for his life and home, because after all, everyone, including Reese knew that one day Malcolm could the President of the United States.

Malcolm stormed into his and his brothers' bedroom and slammed the door noisily behind him, before falling onto his bed, and throwing his globe at the wall, smashing it into a million tiny pieces.

"Do you mind?" said Reese in an annoyed tone "I'm trying to read here!"

"Since when did you read Reese?" asked Malcolm viciously "you're IQ is well below average, I'm surprised you have the mental capacity to be able to read!"

"I've read for quite a while thank you!" said Reese defensively, who had been hurt by Malcolm's previous comment "I usually just do it when you're not here, so I can avoid comments like that!"

"You know what I said was true Reese!" said Malcolm angrily.

"That's what you think!" said Reese quietly.

"No, that's what I know Reese," sneered Malcolm "and you know that I'm always right!"

"No you're not!" said Reese "yeah you're right a lot of the time, but sometimes you make stupid decisions that get us into trouble!"

"Excuse me," said Malcolm, with an air of superiority in his voice "I am always right, and you know it. That's why I'm a genius and you're just a stupid idiot who'll never amount to anything!"

"I'm not stupid!" said Reese in a hurt voice.

"Oh yeah," sneered Malcolm "well why do your grades say different then?"

"I don't know," said Reese quietly "I just can't seem to absorb the information they drill into me at school!"

"Because you're an idiot!" breathed Malcolm maliciously.

"I am not an idiot," said Reese defensively "who is it that comes up with the plans to make money all the time? Me. Who is it that finds us a hiding place from the cops if we get into trouble? Me. Who is it that can cook an entire three course dinner perfectly? Me. Who is it that can recite every wrestler in any company and their finishing move? Me! I am not an idiot Malcolm! Yeah I'm not a genius like you, but I am not an idiot! I am clever in my own way and that's fine by me!"

"Wow," shouted Malcolm sarcastically "you come up with schemes, you find us hiding places, you cook meals, you can recite stupid wrestlers! You are _so _intelligent Reese, next thing we know you could be the President of the United States! Oh wait, no that's not going to happen, is it? Because that's what I'm going to do!"

"No need to be sarcastic!" said Reese looking down, as he felt sadness overtake him "my intelligence might be different to yours, but it's still there!"

"See Reese, that's where you're wrong," said Malcolm in a voice with an air of superiority in it "what you have isn't intelligence, it's just stuff you've picked up over the years of being around me, and through watching TV!"

"What you think I picked up how to cook from you?" asked Reese in disbelief "Malcolm you can't cook to save your life, I have a talent for it and it takes intelligence and you know it!"

"No Reese," said Malcolm "cooking isn't about intelligence, none of the stuff you mentioned takes intelligence, because you don't know what intelligence is. Intelligence is when you can get good grades at school and go onto a good college, which you will never do because you have no intelligence!"

"That's not the only definition of intelligence," argued Reese "intelligence is also about having the practical skills to survive this world, or being able to listen to other people and their opinions or problems and give them advice on things!"

"You're so deluded Reese!" said Malcolm smirking "I think there's a lack of oxygen to your brain which is why you have absolutely no intelligence or potential!"#

"Shut up!" argued Reese "you know I have as much potential as you or maybe even more, but in different walks of life and you know what? I think that scares you!"

"Scared?" laughed Malcolm "why would I be scared of you? You are no threat to me; I will always be the genius in this family!"

"Maybe so," said Reese diplomatically "but really I think you're scared of me because while you are smarter than me in some aspects of life you know I'm smarter than you in other aspects of life!"

"That's what you think!" said Malcolm quietly.

"No Malcolm that's what I know!" said Reese imitating Malcolm's worlds from earlier "being intelligent in terms of books isn't everything, sometimes the best intelligence to have, is that which will help you survive in the world, and you know what I'm saying makes sense!"

"See Reese, that's you're problem," said Malcolm in a slow and patronising voice "you think everything you say is intelligent when actually everything you say shows just how much of an idiot you really are! It's quite pathetic really, especially when I have an image to keep up of being the biggest genius in the history of our school, the world and the entire universe too!"

"Well you know what?" said Reese, trying very hard not to show Malcolm how upset he was "the fact that you rely on books so much for your intelligence and have hardly any survival skills or other talents, makes you really pathetic too!"

"Whatever you say," sighed Malcolm "but I know I'm not pathetic! I know I'm going to amount to something in the future. I know I'm going to have a worthwhile job. But you, all you'll be doing is a dead-end pointless job like flipping burgers in the nearest McDonalds or being a janitor, because you have no intelligence!"

"No, Malcolm, you're wrong!" argued Reese defiantly "I will amount to something. Yeah sure, I might not be doing the same high-flying jobs as you but I'm going to have a good job and I'm going to earn lots of money from it, and then you'll be forced to admit that you were wrong about me!"

"Really Reese?" asked Malcolm sceptically, as he rose his eyebrows "well tell me, what job are you going to do? What job will employee an eighteen year old idiot with no intelligence and no potential and no qualifications to his name?"

"Who says I don't have any qualifications to my name?" asked Reese angrily "I still have one year left at school, so I can still get the qualifications I need!"

"Oh Reese, everyone knows that's never going to happen, so why can't you just accept it!" laughed Malcolm viciously "you've got F's all the way through school so what makes you think that anything is going to be different this year? Nothing will change; you will still fail at everything you try to do!"

"You wish!" said Reese, although thanks to Malcolm's constant berating of him, Reese was finding it difficult to find the confidence that had been present before.

"What job would you like to do anyway!" asked Malcolm nonchalantly.

"I don't know," said Reese "maybe a psychologist!"

"What makes you think you can do that?" laughed Malcolm "there's no way on this Earth you could do that!"

"Yes I could!" said Reese "I like to listen to people's problems and help them through things. I like to talk to people. I'm sensitive, far more sensitive than you, and I think I would be good at it because I would never ever let anybody down!"

"Reese you're not sensitive!" said Malcolm who was now openly laughing at his brother, while Reese could feel himself becoming more and more upset "you get angry over the slightest thing and you never try to comfort anyone!"

"I am sensitive!" said Reese "it's just that no one knows that because they don't care about me enough to look deep inside my heart to find that sensitivity. I'm going to be a psychologist so I can show people that sensitivity that has remained hidden for so long, that I so desperately want to use for good!"

"OK, OK Reese!" said Malcolm, in a sarcastic and patronising voice "you're going to be a psychologist, you keep telling yourself that!"

"Just because you're scared that I actually will succeed and end up being a threat to you and your success does not mean you have to be sarcastic!" said Reese in an annoyed, but hurt tone "you know what Malcolm? You've really changed! I don't know why, but you really have changed!"

"So?" asked Malcolm.

"So you've become horrible in the worst way!" said Reese "I know I'm an idiot and I probably will never make anything of myself, but I thought I could always rely on you to not point that out to me!"

"What are you talking about Reese?" asked Malcolm nastily "everyone always points out the fact you're an idiot to your face, and you never seem to mind!"

"Well I do care!" shouted Reese "it really gets to me. I do try to be intelligent but I find it difficult when it comes to school! I know everyone calls me an idiot all the time, but I always thought you were different. I always thought that even if I had no one else who accepted me for who I was I would always have you, because you never seemed to say these kinds of things to me before you changed. Do you know how much it hurts me Malcolm to hear you say these things? Do you know how much it hurts my confidence?"  
"Well deal with it Reese!" shouted Malcolm "this is me, this is who I am and you can't change me, no one can! Because this is just me, you of all people should know that by now!"

"I hate you!" said Reese.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," sneered Malcolm "I hate you too!"

"Why?" asked Reese "what did I ever do to you?"

"You didn't do anything to me," said Malcolm "I just hate the fact that you exist and that I always have to put up with you and get you out of trouble because you're such an idiot!"

"You don't always have to get me out of trouble," said Reese "sometimes I get us out of trouble too!"

"And then there's the fact that I always have to be around you," ranted Malcolm "I mean I can understand at home, but I even have to be around you at school! I can't escape you Reese!"

"I am not always around you!" said Reese defensively "it's inevitable that we're going to see each other because we're brothers and we're at the same school too!"

"Yes I know that!" sighed Malcolm angrily "but it's the fact that you're always with me because you have nothing better to do and maybe it's also because of the fact that you have no friends in the world! You're alone in this world aren't you Reese? So you have to latch onto me instead!"

"I…I…" said Reese, who was at a loss for words.

"Exactly," said Malcolm nastily "you have no friends and no girlfriend. You've never even been kissed in your life! That's so pathetic, and you've realised how pathetic your life actually is so you've started latching onto mine, which therefore makes you even more pathetic!"

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I don't have friends because I like the solitude?" asked Reese "or that I don't have a girlfriend and I've never been kissed because I'm waiting for the right person to come along before I do fall in love? And that when I do fall in love it will be forever, rather than for a week or two like it is for you?"

"But we both know that's not true don't we Reese?" said Malcolm, smirking "we both know you crave attention and you want friends which is why you're a bully, and we both know that you've never had a girlfriend because girls hate you and they don't want to be near you!"

"Shut up!" shouted Reese in an anxious voice "what do you know about my life? What right do you have to judge me?"

"Oh I know more than you think I know," sneered Malcolm, knowing full well that he was getting to Reese "I know how desperately unhappy you are, and how all you want is a friend who'll be nice to you and accept you for who you are!"

"Shut up, shut up!" shouted Reese covering his ears in anxiety.

"No Reese," shouted Malcolm "because someone needs to tell you this so that you know it's true! And so you know that you will always be a failure at life and will be second to me in every single aspect of your life!"

"I hate you!" shouted Reese, who felt tears prick up in his eyes.

Reese blinked repeatedly in order to stop the tears from falling from his eyes and revealing his vulnerability to his younger brother. Once he had the tears under control, Reese looked up at Malcolm, who was smirking at him and gave him a death glare. Malcolm however, did not flinch and said in a vicious voice,

"You know what I said is right Reese!"

"I hate you!" said Reese, in a hurt voice "you're no brother of mine. No brother should ever say that to his other brothers!"

"Well too bad, I'm saying it!" said Malcolm "you need to know it and if you don't like it well you can just accept it because it is not going to change at any time in the near future, or at any time in the far future for that matter either!"

"I have got to get out of here!" said Reese in an exasperated voice.

"Fine by me," said Malcolm simply "I won't miss you!"

Reese got up off the bed, and without a second glance at his brother, he grabbed his jacket, put it on and walked out of his room. Reese bumped into his mother in the living room and said,

"Mum I'm going out for a while!"

"Why?" asked Lois.

"I have to get away from Malcolm, he's annoying me, so I need to cool down!" said Reese truthfully.

"All right then!" said Lois "but don't be back late!"

"I won't!" called Reese, as he grabbed his wallet, keys and phone and walked out of the door.

Reese was so wound up he just had to get away from his house for a while. He didn't understand why Malcolm's words had affected him so badly, because after all, like Malcolm had said, a lot of people called him and idiot all the time, and he always took it on the chin and brushed it off, but Malcolm's words had hurt Reese more than anything before, maybe because in Reese's mind, they had a ring of truth to them.

Reese shook off the thought and ran though to the place where he always felt safe and accepted. When he got there, he breathed a sigh of relief. Reese had come to a small park. It had various swings and slides that were often in use by young children and their parents, but they never paid attention to Reese so he just sat on one of the many benches or under one of the many willow trees and just thought about life, or tried to forget about everything that had happened.

Today Reese decided to sit under one of the willow trees, as it was incredibly sunny and he wanted to sit in the shade. As soon as he sat under the tree, Reese felt the tears prick up in his eyes again, but this time he let a stray one run down his cheek, making no effort to stop it. This made him feel a little bit better, and as he leant back against the tree trunk and caught the familiar scent of the bark, he finally felt at peace for now.

* * *

**So what did you think? Let me know!**

**I'll update ASAP so I'll see you then!**

* * *


	2. Moving In and Announcements

**Hi everyone, I'm back with the second chapter of my new story! I hope you're enjoying it so far, I'm really enjoying writing it, but then again, I love Malcolm in the Middle so it's easy to write stories about!**

**By the way, thank you to MangaFan14 for the review, I really appreciate it!**

**Anyway enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER TWO ~**

**MOVING IN AND ANNOUNCEMENTS**

Emily Johnson was sat in her parents' car on her way to their new home in California, desperately trying to block out her parents seemingly never-ending argument about why they had to move from Chicago to California. Neither her mum or her dad were happy about having to move to a completely different state, but they had both received a promotion from their company and one of the conditions of them accepting it was that they and Emily had to move to California, much to Mr and Mrs Johnsons' disdain. It had caused so much upheaval for them, because after all they had to sort out a new house, their new jobs and get their daughter into a good, respectable school for her to complete her education.

Emily on the other hand was looking forward to moving to somewhere new. Back in Chicago she did not have any friends and had never been very popular at school or in her neighbourhood, so she was seen as a bit of a loner. However, Emily was excited about a move to California because she saw it as potentially being a fresh start for her as a person in general, as well as socially. Emily hoped she would be able to make at least one friend here and perhaps even find a boyfriend, although in the back of her mind, she knew she was just being optimistic. After all, she had always been an outsider, so she wasn't sure that she would be any different in California.

Emily was eighteen years old and about to start her final year at school. She was very intelligent and she got mostly A's and B's at school, in fact some people even considered her to be a genius, but she didn't care what they said because she had no interest in being a genius, her most important goal in life was to have fun. Emily was incredibly beautiful, as she had long light brown hair with red and blonde streaks in it, which fell down past her shoulders. Her eyes were green and beautiful. They showed all her emotions and they were truly the window to her soul that would allow anyone to see directly into her heart.

Emily had a heart of gold and would help anyone who needed her help. She would always listen to people's problems and try to give advice on them. She loved wrestling, despite being a girl and she was very unique as a person, which could have been one of the reasons as to why she did not have any friends, because after all, Emily knew it was strange for a girl to like wrestling.

Although Emily was very beautiful, she had never had a boyfriend in her life, and she had never been kissed. It was true that if Emily had a boyfriend, he would mean everything to her, but because she had never had a boyfriend, Emily was also very nervous about the whole idea of love, and this fact had haunted Emily for most of her life. Despite being scared of love, all Emily desired was to be loved, be it by friends or by a boyfriend, all she wanted was someone who would treat her like she was actually important for once.

For Emily, her family was the central thing in her world. She wan an only child who lived with her mother and father, but sometimes she felt like she lived all alone because she never saw her mother and father. Emily's parents were both property developers and were always busy with their jobs, so they never had much time for their daughter. Emily was always at home on her own, so much so that she had developed fantastic practical skills and a great survival of the fittest instinct, which she often used to her advantage.

However, all Emily wanted was for her parents to spend time with her and love her. They barely even talked to her and that upset Emily more than anything, because it meant that she had to deal with all her problems by herself and she never had anyone to be there for her.

Because Emily's parents were always away at work, they brought Emily lots of gifts to compensate for this. Emily had so many DVD's and CD's that she had lost count of them all. However, Emily, although she was grateful for these gifts, did not really want them, because all she wanted was for her parents to pay attention to her and show her love.

Emily's parents argued a lot and they always seemed to be stressed. It worried Emily when her parents argued because Emily was convinced that their arguing would lead to her family being broken up and her life being even worse than it already was.

With that thought in mind Emily sighed as she looked out of the window at the beautiful passing countryside, as the Johnsons' car entered California.

"Why do we have to move to California anyway?" asked Emily's mother Carol angrily.

"It's part of our job!" said Emily's father Peter, just as angrily.

"But we still shouldn't have to move to a completely different state, it's an injustice!" shouted Carol.

"Well the alternative was losing our jobs!" shouted Peter "did you want that to happen?"

"Of course not, our jobs are the most important things to us!" screamed Carol "but look at the upheaval it has caused!"

"I know, but there's nothing we can do!" shouted Peter.

"We could move back to Chicago!" screeched Carol.

"But then you'd probably whine about the upheaval that would cause too!" roared Peter "there's just no pleasing you is there?"

"Well I'm sorry if me not being happy because I've had to move away from my home and my family is an inconvenience for you!" yelled Carol.

"Well you're just going to have to accept it!" bellowed Peter "because nothing is going to change, no matter how much you whine or moan, it is not going to change. The whole world does not revolve around you, you know!"

"Well it sure doesn't revolve around you does it?" shouted Carol "and I don't moan and whine, I've learnt not too because it gets me nowhere with you! You just do not listen!"

"It's hard to listen to someone when you are constantly bored by them!" shouted Peter viciously.

"Oh you're bored by me are you?" shouted Carol "well why did you marry me then? Tell me, I'm dying to know!"

"I don't know why I married you!" bellowed Peter "you used to be fun, but now I just don't know who you are anymore and I'm losing sight of the reason why I did marry you in the first place!"

"And you don't think that it's the same for me!" shrieked Carol "I miss the person you used to be Peter, and for that reason I've also lost sight of why I married you which is so sad considering how quickly I fell in love with you. I just can't believe you're making me go through with it!"

"Hey don't pin this all on me!" shouted Peter "you agreed to the new job too, so it's not all my fault!"

"Whatever," said Carol venomously "it doesn't matter now anyway because we're here, so this is our new home then?"

"Yes!" snapped Peter "is that all right for you?"

"I guess I'll adapt to it!" muttered Carol.

With that Emily's parents got out of the car and slammed the doors, leaving their daughter in the car in shock. Emily had never heard her parents argue that viciously before, and it scared her. Emily climbed out of the car and as she did this she wiped a few stray tears out of her eyes.

Emily grabbed her suitcase, which lay on the pavement. Her parents had already stormed inside the house in a bad mood, so this gave Emily time to look at the house she would be living in for the foreseeable future. The house was a bungalow, and quite a big bungalow at that. It looked like an old country cottage, and it had a quaint charm, which Emily loved, because it instantly made her feel at home and incredibly safe. The front garden was full of roses and Emily loved the scent that hit her nose as she walked through the small wooden gate and up the garden path.

Emily opened the front door and walked into the living room, which had a cream carpet, and a nice open fire, as well as all of her family's furniture which had been moved in earlier that day by the removal company.

Emily could hear her parents in one of the two bedrooms, arguing viciously once again. She sighed as she realised that she was far less important to her parents than their jobs, so she dragged her suitcase to the other bedroom ready for her to start unpacking. The other bedroom was pretty big, it was about the same size as Emily's room in her old home, so she didn't have much to adapt to, although she wouldn't have minded if her bedroom had been incredibly small. All of Emily's furniture was already in her room, so all she had to do was unpack her stuff, like her CD's, DVD's, books and clothes and this suited her just fine, so she started, hoping to get it done quickly, so she could go and explore.

Sure enough Emily's plan worked perfectly and within half an hour she had unpacked everything and was ready to go and explore the strange new world that she had only moved to today. Although Emily did not have any friends and was not very confident when it came to socialising, she had an unparalleled sense of adventure that was never satisfied. She loved to go and explore new places and even in places that she knew, Emily still enjoyed simply wandering around in the wilderness, because she loved the feeling of freedom she got from being able to wander around.

Again Emily could hear her parents arguing. It really upset her every time her parents argued because, although Emily knew her family was quite dysfunctional if she was honest, she always thought her parents were close with regards to their marriage. After all, when she was younger Emily never heard her parents argue, but then again, it was only when she was ten years old that they got these high flying jobs and they became stressed. Emily had always believed it had been the stress caused by their jobs, which had started the arguments and the unhappiness within her parents' marriage and her family in general.

Emily lay on her bed gazing up at the ceiling, trying desperately to shut off so that she could escape from the arguing, which was getting louder and louder. However, as hard as she tried, Emily just could not escape from the noise and it started to upset her more and more. Maybe the hurt that Emily was feeling was down to the fact that her parents were arguing, but in Emily's mind, she thought that the upset was more likely down to the fact that she felt all alone in this world because her parents paid no attention to her. This had been evident to Emily since she was thirteen years old and it had haunted her ever since because all she wanted was love from her parents, but she was always second best to their jobs. In fact, Emily's parents hardly ever talked to her, they just left her to her own devices, which upset Emily even more, but had also worked to her advantage in helping her to develop fantastic practical skills.

Suddenly Emily heard her mother shout;

"Emily can you come here for a minute please?"  
"Just a second Mum!" replied Emily.

Emily was for some unknown reason, slightly nervous about going into the living room where she knew her parents now were, after they had moved rooms about ten minutes ago. Despite her nerves Emily took a deep breath, which calmed her down, even if it was only slightly. After that, she climbed off the bed and walked down the corridor and towards the living room where her parents were sat on either side of the room glaring at each other.

"What is it?" asked Emily curiously.

"Sit down Emily!" said Carol sombrely.

"What's wrong Mum?" asked Emily curiously and worriedly, as she sat down on the sofa "Dad?"

"We have something to tell you!" said Peter.

"OK then," said Emily, who was now getting seriously worried "what is it? Please tell me!"

"It's something very serious!" said Carol.

"Yeah I gathered that!" said Emily quietly, as she became more and more nervous about this inevitable news.

"It's something that will change your life forever!" said Carol in a slow voice that made Emily panic even more.

"OK…" said Emily slowly.

"It'll probably upset you too!" said Carol.

"All right then," said Emily "but I think even if I do get upset, I'll be fine in the end, so just tell me!"

"I don't want you to think that we don't love you!" said Carol worriedly "you won't think that will you?"

"No Mum of course not!" said Emily, who wasn't lying because she already thought her parents didn't love her so therefore nothing could change "I know you'll always love me no matter what!"

"That's good then," said Carol, managing a weak smile "but I'm not sure how to tell you!"

"Just tell me Mum!" said Emily sighing "I'm sure I'll be able to handle it even if I do get upset!"

"No, I'm not sure you will be able to handle it Emily!" said Carol defiantly "I know how tough you are mentally, but this might be the thing that throws you over the edge and I don't want to do that!"

"Mum I've been through so much in the past, I'm sure I'll be able to deal with this," said Emily "why don't you just tell me?"

"Are you sure?" asked Carol, who was desperately seeking reassurance from her daughter.

"Yes Mum, please just tell me all right?" said Emily, in a slightly exasperated voice "I will be able to deal with it!"

"But what if you can't?" asked Carol.

"I will be able to, I promise!" said Emily.

"But…" said Carol in an unsure voice.

"Oh for goodness' sake Carol!" snapped Emily's dad Peter, nastily "just tell her will you. We need to get this over with and she's said she can deal with it, so just tell her now!"

It was as if time had stopped for a couple of minutes. Emily glanced backward and forward between her mother and father, waiting, desperately wishing that someone would say something and break the awkward silence. Meanwhile, Emily's mother and father were glaring at each other, just like when Emily had first walked into the room. However, there was one key difference this time and that was that the glares were far more intense, and this meant that Emily was sure something very serious was wrong and also that she became even more worried.

"You want me to tell her?" asked Carol in a soft, but dangerous voice that oozed malice.

"Yes that's why I told you to hurry up and tell her!" said Peter nastily.

"OK then, well I'm going to tell her the whole story then," said Carol, smirking "she'll know the whole truth!"

"Fine by me!" said Peter nonchalantly.

"What is going on!" shouted Emily in an exasperated voice "will someone tell me please?"

"You want to know do you?" asked Carol in an angry voice "you want to know the whole truth?"

"Of course I want to know!" said Emily "what is going on?"

"You're father and I are getting a divorce!" said Carol.

"What?" said Emily in a shocked voice, as she looked from her mother to her father and back again "why?"

"Because we've just fallen out of love with each other!" said Peter, trying to pacify his daughter.

"You know full well that's not the only reason," exploded Carol "tell her the whole truth!"

"That is the truth!" said Peter defensively.

"No it's not and you know it!" said Carol viciously "another reason we split up is because you decided that I wasn't good enough for you so you started sleeping with your twenty four year old receptionist, and I found out, and you know what? I won't stand for it!"

"What?" said Emily, who was now close to tears, as she realised her family was falling apart "is that true Dad?"

"Yes," said Peter "but you have to understand Emily that I just couldn't put up with your mother's moaning all the time!"

"That's no reason to go and sleep with your receptionist!" screamed Carol.

"Well it was the only thing I could think of at the time!" said Peter defensively "besides, you forgot the other reason why we're splitting up!"

"There's another reason?" asked Emily incredulously.

"What do you mean?" asked Carol.

"The fact that we're both so stressed that we've given up!" bellowed Peter "the fact that we don't care anymore and we both want out of this marriage!"

"Oh yeah I forgot!" shouted Carol "but trust me, no one could want out of this hell more than me!"

"Oh yeah?" yelled Peter "you don't know how I feel!"

"Whatever!" said Carol venomously "so Emily are you all right with this?"

"Of course I'm not!" shouted Emily "the whole family is breaking up!"

"You're just going to have to accept it Emily!" said Peter "nothing is going to change this!"

"I know," said Emily "I just wish this was all a bad dream!"

"Yes," said Peter "by the way, I'm not moving out for a couple of days, I have to wait until my new apartment is sorted, so hopefully you should have time to get used to the changes!"

"I'll never get used to it!" shouted Emily "I need some time to think, I'm going out for a while!"

Emily's parents didn't say anything so Emily got up and walked into her room and grabbed her jacket, phone and keys, while still trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. After that, Emily simply walked out of the house without even stopping to talk to her parents.

Emily felt the cool breeze hit her face and she started to relax, even if it was just by a little bit. She didn't know where she was going but her feet seemed to guide her to a small park that was not far away from her home. As she walked down the street Emily saw there were various bungalows that were just like hers. She loved where she lived instantly because it made her feel safe and like she actually belonged to a community for once.

Soon Emily was at the park, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she finally felt at peace. She glanced around the park which was bathed in sun and saw families playing together, willow trees and various benches. This place was so beautiful that Emily got goose bumps. Emily decided to sit under one of the willow trees so that she would be in the shade and so that she could relax, so she sat under a willow tree, breathed in the scent of the bark, and let the tears that she had held back for so long, fall with increasing pace, as the fact that her parents were getting a divorce finally sunk in.

* * *

**So what did you think? Let me know!**

**In case you're wandering Reese and Emily meet each other in the next chapter, but that's all I'm telling you! :)**

**Anyway thanks for reading! I'll update soon, so I'll see you then!**


	3. Friends

**Hey everyone! This is the next chapter of my ReesexOC story!**

**Just in case you think I've forgotten my other stories, I haven't, it's just that I'm away at a University summer school at the moment so I haven't had much time to work on them, but I'd already written this chapter, just forgot to post it! So hopefully, soon I'll be able to work on my other stories again!**

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews by the way! I love reading them, and they mean a lot! So thanks!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

**~ CHAPTER THREE ~**

**FRIENDS**

Reese was sat underneath a willow tree in the park simply relaxing and desperately trying to forget his argument with Malcolm. He was still very upset and he was sure his eyes were bloodshot because of all the stray tears he had accidentally let fall down his cheeks. Reese sighed as he looked around the park at all the happy families playing together. Reese wished his family was like that, but he knew it would never happen.

As Reese looked around the park wistfully, he spotted a young girl, who looked about his age enter the park alone. Reese had never seen this girl before, either at school or around the neighbourhood, so he assumed she was new here. Reese instantly noticed how naturally beautiful this girl was, and he instantly felt attracted to her, feeling like he just had to try and get to know her, which was a brand new feeling for him, as Reese normally stayed away from girls to avoid being hurt by them. Reese instantly noticed this mysterious girl's light brown hair with red and blonde streaks, and immediately thought it looked perfect on her.

Reese had felt physically attracted to girls before, but he had never felt such a strange mental feeling towards a girl before. Reese felt like it was essential to his being that he got to know this girl and that if he didn't at least try, he would feel miserable for the rest of his life. Strangely, Reese also felt confident about going to talk to this girl, which was incredibly unusual for him as well. Reese for some reason, felt like this girl wouldn't reject his attempt to be friends with her like all the other girls and that gave his sense of confidence a boost.

Reese watched the girl, mesmerised by her beauty and grace. The girl walked towards the willow trees and Reese thought she had spotted him watching her, so he instantly panicked and looked away. However, the girl walked past the tree where Reese was sitting, without a second glance, sitting under another tree not far from the one Reese had claimed.

One thing that Reese had noticed about the girl as she walked past him was that she appeared to be crying. Although Reese had not been looking at the girl at the time, he had heard her sobbing quietly, and he felt incredibly worried about her and he wanted to be the one that could make those tear go away, which was also a completely new feeling for him, as he never bothered with girls' problems as they never bothered with his. Reese felt his heart break for the young girl who was sat about one hundred metres from him, and he felt that need to go and talk to her, intensify a lot.

Reese glanced at the girl and was not surprised when he saw that she had her head in her hands and appeared to be trembling. Reese was sure she was still crying, and his suspicions were confirmed when she wiped her eyes, before breaking down completely again. Reese felt a lump form in his throat and he didn't understand why, he had never been affected by a girl to this extent before, and it scared him, not only because he was nervous about the whole concept of friendship with a girl, but because he knew that if she rejected him, it would hurt him more than usual and he did not want to go through that, because he knew it would hurt him, shatter his confidence, and give Malcolm another thing to tease him about.

Reese ran his hand through his hair, trying to think of a way to approach this girl without scaring or intimidating her, so that he could find out who she was, whether she needed a friend and what was wrong with her. Reese ran through some different scenarios in his head and concluded that he should approach this girl by trying to find out what was wrong before he did anything else, as this could help to build up a feeling of trust towards Reese. Even though he had played out the scenario in his head, Reese was still incredibly nervous about approaching this girl, and he was sure that once he walked up to her and actually spoke to her, he would forget what he wanted to say and then she would reject him.

Regardless of this, Reese took a deep breath to try and calm himself down and then he got up and walked slowly over to this girl. Once he was in front of her, Reese knelt down next to her and said in a soft voice,

"Excuse me, I saw that you were crying and I just wandered if you were all right? I'm not very good at this, but it seems like you have a problem and I was wandering what was wrong and whether I could help in any way?"

The girl looked up at Reese, and Reese saw a sadness in her beautiful green eyes that was so extreme, he instantly wanted to cry. However, he held it together and waited for the girl's response. Meanwhile, the girl was stunned by how handsome the boy in front of her was. His eyes matched hers in colour and intensity and he had a very toned body. The girl was instantly heartened by the fact that the boy had asked her what was wrong, but she was wary too as people had done this too her before in order to trick her. The girl had become very good at reading facial reactions and expressions and could tell when she was being tricked, so she studied the boy's features and to her surprise she saw genuine rather than fake concern and sympathy there. Also from looking into the boy's eyes she could see sadness there, and was instantly curious about what was wrong.

"I want to tell you what's wrong, I really do!" said the girl desperately "but I don't know why you're bothering with me because no one else ever seems to, they just leave me! So I'd save yourself the trouble of dealing with me and go back to your life, it's easier for both of us!"

At first Reese did not know how to take this reply. His first instinct was to walk away and leave this girl alone, but something deep inside him told him to stay with her, and try to make her feel better. Reese eventually decided to stay with the girl as he was captivated by her and wanted to find out more about her.

"I'm not going anywhere!" said Reese "I might not be very good at this, but I know you should never leave a beautiful girl when she's upset, so are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"You think I'm beautiful?" asked the girl in a bewildered voice "no one's ever told me that before!"

"Really?" asked Reese shocked.

"Yeah," said the girl "so thank you!"

"It's all right," said Reese "I'm Reese Wilkerson by the way!"

"Hi," said Emily, shaking his outstretched hand "I'm Emily Johnson!"

"Cool," said Reese "Emily is such a nice name, but I think we should customize it a bit, do you mind if I call you Em?"

"No, go ahead!" said Emily "Em sounds awesome, I'm so used to being called Emily all the time it's nice for a change!"

"So Em," said Reese, after a short pause "I haven't seen you round here before, are you new?"

"Yeah," said Emily, happy that someone was taking interest "I just moved here!"

"Oh wow, where did you live before?" asked Reese curiously.

"Chicago!" said Emily happily.

"Wow!" said Reese excitedly "I've never been to Chicago, what's it like?"

"Amazing!" said Emily "you have to go there one day!"

"I will don't worry!" said Reese smiling "so why did you move all the way to California?"

"My parents are property developers and they got a promotion and one of the conditions of this promotion was to move here!" said Emily "I was really looking forward to it, because it would be a fresh start, but then since we got here everything's gone wrong!"

"What do you mean?" asked Reese "why was it going to be a fresh start for you and why did everything go wrong?"

"Well it was supposed to be a fresh start for me because back in Chicago I had no friends, I was a loner, so I wanted this to be a fresh start so that I could make friends, and maybe even find a boyfriend," said Emily wistfully "also my parents have been stressed about their jobs and they've been arguing a lot, so I wanted it to be a fresh start for them so they could rediscover their love for each other if you know what I mean!"

"Yeah," said Reese "well I think you've achieved the fresh start that you wanted because I'd really like to be friends with you!"

"Really?" said Emily excitedly "oh that's awesome, thanks Reese!"

"It's all right," said Reese, smiling "when I saw you I thought you would have been like the most popular girl ever, and I'm surprised you're not, but I'm glad too, because, well everyone here thinks I'm an idiot and I'm a loner too. I've never had a friend in my life, so I'm glad I found a friend like you!"

"I can't believe you're not popular!" said Emily shocked.

"Yeah I'm not popular," said Reese sadly "everyone at school hates me because I'm a bully. I don't want to be a bully, but it's the only thing I'm good at, so it's the only thing I've ever done!"

"Well for the record Reese I think you're lovely!" said Emily truthfully.

"Aww thank you!" said Reese "so tell me why everything went wrong, I mean you've found your fresh start haven't you?"

"Yeah, I have," said Emily "but my parents haven't!"

"What do you mean?" asked Reese quizzically.

"Well their arguing has got worse and worse all day," said Emily in an upset voice "and about half an hour ago, they told me they were getting a divorce and that my Dad had been sleeping with his twenty four year old receptionist!"

"Oh Em," said Reese gently "I'm so sorry!"

"I never thought our family would split up like this Reese," said Emily, in a shaky voice "I always thought we'd always stay together forever!"

Suddenly, without warning, Emily's veneer that she had managed to build up during her conversation with Reese cracked and she burst into heart breaking sobs that instantly made Reese panic. Reese felt a lump form in his throat, but he swallowed it as he knew he had to be strong for Emily. Reese instinctively put his arm around Emily's shoulders hoping that she didn't mind.

"Em?" he said gently, choosing his words carefully "come on, it'll be all right! I promise you! It might seem like the end of the world to you now, but it won't be! The thing is that you know your parents are going to be happy because of their decision to have a divorce, and their happiness is good for you! Yes it's going to hurt, but it will get easier! Besides your parents will still love you even though they're not together!"

"You d-don't understand Reese!" stammered Emily, through tears.

"But I want to," said Reese tenderly "help me to understand!"

"My p-parents d-don't l-love m-me anyway," sobbed Emily "s-so everything w-w-will j-just b-be w-worse n-now, b-because they'll b-be w-wrapped u-up in their d-divorce as w-well as their j-jobs s-so they'll h-have even l-l-less t-time f-for m-me than usual!"

"What do you mean Em?" asked Reese "do you mean your parents put their jobs before you?"

"Y-Yes!" sobbed Emily "e-ever s-since I w-was thirteen, and n-now their d-d-divorce w-will m-make everything w-worse than it w-was b-before!"

Reese didn't have any idea what to say or do. Emily seemed so upset and he just wanted to make her tears go away, so he did the only thing he could think of and pulled Emily into his arms for a hug. Emily tensed at first and Reese thought he had done the wrong thing and started to pull away when suddenly Emily leant into him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Reese instinctively put his arms back and Emily, holding her close.

"D-Don't l-let m-me g-go Reese p-please!" she cried "d-don't l-leave m-me, this is the f-first h-hug I've h-had in about s-six y-years!"

"Aww Em!" said Reese "it's all right; I'm not going anywhere I promise you, I won't leave you!"

"Thank y-you!" whispered Emily.

"Listen Em," said Reese gently "I know we haven't known each other for a long time, but I can promise you I'm not going to leave you, and I will look after you no matter what!"

"R-Really?" stammered Emily through her tears.

"Yes!" said Reese honestly "every time you want to cry, I'll be there, every time you need someone to talk to, or to give you a hug I'll be there. Every time you need to get away from something I'll be there and every time you need someone to protect you I'll be there. I swear I'm not going to leave you, you're the first friend I've ever had so you're far too valuable to me for me to risk losing you!"

"Reese, thank you," said Emily, managing a weak smile "that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me! And by the way, the same thing goes for you; I'll be there for you forever too!"

"That means more than you'll ever know!" said Reese truthfully "just remember this Em, even though it seems like the pain won't get easier, it really truly will, I promise you, it'll just take time!"

"I know," said Emily, looking down "it's just upsetting to think my family is breaking up!"

"I know, and I'm really sorry you have to go through this!" said Reese sympathetically as he hugged Emily tighter.

"Well at least I've got you now!" said Emily happily.

"Yeah I know what you mean!" said Reese smiling.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you Reese!" said Emily, looking down.

"Em, don't be silly!" said Reese, guiding Emily's face upwards to look at him "you haven't caused me any trouble, I'm glad I met you because I've got a friend for the first time ever!"

Emily smiled. However, when she looked into Reese's eyes she saw so much sadness there that it almost scared her. Emily wandered what had upset Reese and she desperately wanted to find out but she wasn't sure if she would be doing the right thing by asking, but Emily had to know, so she decided to gamble.

"Reese are you all right?" she asked gently.

"Yeah I'm fine," said Reese smiling "why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," said Emily "it's just that there is such sadness in your eyes! I wandered if there was anything wrong?"

"No I'm fine!" said Reese in an unconvincing voice "it's just…well…no it doesn't matter!"

"Yes it does," said Emily "tell me what's wrong? I promise I won't judge you at all, I'll just try and be there for you!"

"Well…I come from quite a big family," said Reese "there's my Mum and Dad and then I have three brothers, one older one, who's away at military school, Francis and two younger ones, Malcolm who's a genius and Dewey who's well, he's just Dewey really."

"Yeah, OK," said Emily "but what's wrong?"

"Well Malcolm's been acting strangely recently, you know like getting into trouble with the police that kind of thing," said Reese quietly, as he bit his lip and swallowed the lump in his throat "so today I was sat at home reading a wrestling magazine, and he comes storming in and I asked him to be quiet because I was reading, then he insulted me calling me an idiot over and over again!"

"Oh Reese that's terrible!" said Emily "brothers should never do that to each other, it kind of makes me glad I'm an only child!"

"That's not all," said Reese in a hollow voice, as he looked away from Emily, fearing that the tears would fall "he said he was far more intelligent and I tried to defend myself by saying that I find school difficult and that I can cook and other things and that takes intelligence too, but he wouldn't accept it! Then he reminded me of the fact that I had no friends and that I was a loner and he said that that would never change because I was worthless!"

Emily was speechless, she couldn't believe that Reese's brother would be so cruel to him, and she knew that this argument with his brother had affected Reese badly. Reese refused to look at Emily, because he felt ashamed and he was scared that if he looked into her kind eyes that he would break down completely.

"Reese, I'm so sorry!" said Emily, saying the only thing she could think of "I know that probably doesn't help, but I am sorry!"

"Thanks Em," said Reese quietly "but Malcolm is right, I am a loner, I am worthless and I will never amount to anything!"

Emily was horrified to hear Reese say that about himself and she knew she instantly had to make him think differently, because the fact was that Emily didn't think Reese was worthless, in fact, she thought he was the nicest person she had ever met.

"Reese you know that's not true!" she said desperately.

"It is," said Reese in a hurt voice "I'm worthless, I'm no good at school or anything in my life, everyone thinks I'm a joke and treats me like that and it hurts so much that I've just given up completely and just accepted my worthlessness!"

"Reese look at me!" said Emily firmly.

Reese still could not look at Emily through fear that he would break down in front of her, embarrass himself and then lose her as a friend. Emily sensed that it was more the fact that Reese couldn't look at her than wouldn't look at her, so she got up and went to sit in his eye line in the direction he was looking. Reese again turned away from Emily, although he didn't want to. Emily was persistent though, so she did the same as she had done before and went to sit in his eye line. She was not going to give up easily.

After about five minutes of this happening Emily was getting more and more upset and worried about Reese.

"Reese please!" she said in a pleading voice "please listen to me, I just want to help you, I'm not going to judge you!"

It must have been the pleading nature of Emily's voice or the fact that she was nearly in tears herself, but something made Reese turn around and say,

"What's the point in you helping me Em, I'm a failure, Malcolm was right, nothing will change that ever!"

"Reese that's not true!" said Emily truthfully "you're not worthless, you're not a failure and you're not a joke!"

"Yes I am!" said Reese in a heartbroken voice, as he began to hit his head with his hands "stupid, stupid, stupid, worthless, pathetic loser!"

"Reese stop it!" said Emily in an alarmed voice.

However, Reese did not listen to Emily's words and continued to pound his head with his hands. Emily saw how potentially dangerous this situation was so she reached forwards and took Reese's hands in hers, pulling them away from his head.

"Reese," she said in a gentle voice "that is not the answer!"

"I know," said Reese in a dejected voice "it's just that I hate my life so much! I'm stupid, worthless, and pathetic and I'm a joke as well as being an idiot. I hate it Em, I just want to escape from it, but there's no way I can and it's horrible!"

"Reese, you know that's not true!" said Emily gently "those are your brother's words. They're designed to make you feel inferior because really your brother is scared that you will succeed!"

"But everyone says it!" said Reese tearfully.

"That's because they're all idiots!" said Emily, stroking Reese's hand with her thumb "all the kids at school are insecure about who they are so they're taking that insecurity out on you! It is not true, trust me Reese! I've only known you for a couple of hours and I can already tell that you're intelligent, sensitive, a great friend, kind and just generally a lovely person! I think that you just need someone to bring out that side in you!"

"You really think that?" asked Reese, in a voice that was desperately seeking reassurance "even though you've not known me for long?"

"Yes," said Emily "you're a lovely person because you took the time to come and ask me what was wrong, which no one else has ever done before!"

"Well I might be stupid but I know you should never leave a girl when she's upset!" said Reese.

"And it's those kind of comments that make me realise that you are incredibly intelligent and sensitive," said Emily "yeah sure, maybe you're not very good at school, but I think you have practical skills which also make you intelligent, just in a different but perhaps more beneficial way!"

"I guess so," said Reese "I mean I can recite every wrestler and their finishing move in any territory and I can cook an entire three course meal. I also know how to fight and I can protect anyone!"

"See that's what I mean!" said Emily "that's amazing!"

"Thanks Em," said Reese "for everything. For listening to me and talking to me, just thank you so much. I am so lucky to have a friend like you!"

"Me too," said Emily smiling "hey Reese you said you like wrestling right?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Reese curiously

"Well you might be happy to know that I love wrestling too!" said Emily smiling.

"Oh wow!" said Reese happily "finally, I've found someone I can have an intelligent conversation about wrestling with, without them laughing at me!"

"Yeah, tell me about it!" said Emily excitedly.

"Oh it's so great to have found a friend like you Em!" said Reese "hey by the way, you're going to the local high school right? Are you going to start your last year there?"

"Yeah to both questions," said Emily "one more year of Hell left!"

"What subjects are you doing?" asked Reese, grinning.

"Well obviously Maths and English," said Emily "but I'm also doing History, Food Technology, Art, IT and Chemistry!"

"Really?" asked Reese "that is so creepy! Those are the exact same subjects I'm doing as well!"

"Oh wow!" said Emily excitedly "well now I'm actually excited about starting school!"

"Me too!" said Reese "I'll actually have someone to talk to now, and to sit with at lunch and to be partners with in class! You will be my partner won't you Em?"

"Course I will!" said Emily "and at least I won't get lost when I get there, because hopefully you'll show me around!"

"You bet I will!" said Reese, smiling.

There was a short silence between Emily and Reese after that, as they exchanged mobile numbers. Despite the fact the silence was short it was a comfortable, happy silence with Emily and Reese both just happy with the fact that they had found each other and had become friends.

"I should get home now Reese!" said Emily regretfully.

"Aww, I wish you didn't have to!" said Reese sadly.

"Yeah me too!" said Emily, sighing "but we could meet up here again tomorrow if you want?"

"Sure!" said Reese "is eleven o'clock all right for you?"

"Yeah!" said Emily "but I think my Dad's moving out tomorrow, so I might have to stay in, but you could always come over to mine if you want, I'll probably appreciate the company, because I think it could get upsetting!"

"All right then!" said Reese "just call me in the morning, let me know what's happening?"

"I will!" said Emily.

"Let me walk you home!" said Reese kindly as he stood up and helped Emily up.

"You don't have to do that Reese!" said Emily.

"But I want to!" said Reese eagerly "can I?"

"Sure!" said Emily, beaming along with Reese.

Reese smiled a genuinely happy smile as together he and Emily walked across the park. They came up to the fence in the park, and were greeted by a stile that they had to climb over. Emily wasn't sure if she could manage it, and as she watched Reese climb onto the stile, climb to the other side and jump down, she became even more convinced she wouldn't manage to get over it.

"Come on Em, it'll be all right!" said Reese "I'll help you!"

"Are you sure?" asked Emily nervously.

"Yeah!" said Reese "I'll help you climb onto the stile, and then we'll take it from there all right?"

Emily nodded and took Reese's outstretched hands climbing slowly and cautiously onto the stile.

"Well done Em," said Reese "now climb onto the fence and I'll lift you down!"

"Are you sure?" asked Emily in an unsure voice.

"Yeah don't worry!" said Reese smiling.

"All right then!" said Emily, in a shaky voice.

With that Emily climbed onto the thin fence with Reese's help. The moment she stood on the top of the fence, she was overcome by a wave of dizziness and she felt herself falling backwards.

"Reese, I think I'm going to fall!" said Emily in a panicked voice.

"It's all right Em!" said Reese, wrapping his arms around Emily "I've got you, you're safe!"

Emily felt safe with Reese and she put her hands on his shoulders while he lifted her down to the ground. Once Emily was on the ground she hugged Reese tightly and smiled into his chest as she felt him hug her back.

"Thanks Reese!" she said smiling.

"It's all right Em," said Reese "now shall we get you home?"

"Yeah all right!" said Emily.

"I'll race you!" said Reese excitedly.

"Reese you don't even know where I live!" laughed Emily.

"So?" asked Reese innocently.

"So you won't be able to find my house making it unfair as a race!" laughed Emily.

"But I want to race you!" said Reese in mock sadness.

"Fine," said Emily "but we'll have to stay together, and you'll have to try and keep up with me!"

"Oh that won't be a problem!" said Reese teasingly.

"Whatever you say!" said Emily smiling.

"How are we going to stay together though?" asked Reese in a confused voice.

"I have no idea!" said Emily "do you have any suggestions?"

"Well we could do this!" said Reese, taking Emily's hand in his "is this a good suggestion, Em?"

"Yes I think it is Reese!" said Emily playfully.

"Good," said Reese "well then the race begins!"

"Yes it does!" said Emily, grinning as she set of at a run.

Reese was surprised at how fast Emily could actually run and he felt himself being pulled along with her at a blistering pace, before he was able to catch up with her a couple of minutes later.

Reese and Emily ran for about five minutes before Emily stopped suddenly outside her house. Reese didn't anticipate her stopping and accidentally crashed into her, causing Emily to lose her balance and fall backwards. Emily gasped in shock and worry, but then she felt a strong pair of arms wrap themselves around her and stop her from falling. She looked up and saw Reese smiling down at her. Emily smiled back in relief as Reese stood her up and said,

"I'm really, really sorry Em!"

"It's all right Reese," said Emily "it wasn't your fault and I'm fine!"

"That's good then!" said Reese "why did you stop anyway?"

"This is my house!" said Emily smiling, gesturing to the house they were stood in front of.

"You're joking!" said Reese grinning.

"No, why would I be joking?" asked Emily, confused.

"You live so close to me!" said Reese excitedly "this is awesome!"

"Why, where do you live?" asked Emily curiously.

"There!" said Reese, happily, as he gestured to the house to the left of Emily's.

"You mean you live right next door to me?" asked Emily, beaming.

"Yeah!" said Reese grinning.

"Wow!" shouted Emily excitedly "how cool!"

"I know!" shouted Reese, just as excitedly "this means I'll be able to walk to and from school with you every day!"

"Yay!" shouted Emily happily, as she embraced Reese tightly.

Reese chuckled as he hugged Emily back. He had only known Emily for a few hours, but he already loved everything that he had discovered about her, particularly the fact that she could get so excited over little things, a bit like him. Reese knew in his heart that Emily was a true friend and that their friendship would last.

After a couple of minutes, a slightly breathless Emily broke the hug and smiled at Reese who smiled back, before opening the gate to Emily's front garden and walked her up to her front door.

"You didn't have to walk me right up to my front door Reese!" said Emily, although she appreciated the gesture.

"I know, but I wanted to!" said Reese truthfully "I wanted to make sure you were safe and that you got up to your door safely!"

"That's so sweet Reese!" said Emily, blushing slightly "thank you!"

"No problem!" said Reese, who at that moment was thinking about how cute Emily looked when she blushed.

"I will see you tomorrow won't I Reese?" asked Emily, who seemed to be seeking reassurance.

"Course you will!" said Reese "eleven o'clock yeah?"

"Yeah, in the park, unless I ring you!" said Emily happily.

"Ring me anyway!" said Reese "tell me what you're up to!"

"I will!" said Emily.

"And if you want me to come over I really don't mind!" said Reese, smiling.

"Thanks Reese!" said Emily.

"It's no problem!" said Reese smiling "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"You bet!" said Emily smiling.

Reese smiled and hugged Emily tightly, breathing in the smell of her perfume. Emily hugged Reese back, breathing in the smell of his aftershave and loving how safe she felt in his arms. After a while Reese broke the hug and said,

"Bye Em, see you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow Reese!" said Emily smiling.

With that Reese walked down the path, stopping at the end of the path and waving to Emily, who smiled and waved back, before opening the door to her house, immediately being greeted by shouting. Emily sighed in a dejected fashion and put a pizza in the microwave for her tea. After she had ate the pizza she went in the shower and put on a DVD, before going to bed, falling into an uneasy sleep, as she heard her parents shouting once again.

Reese meanwhile couldn't stop smiling. All the way through dinner he didn't say a word as he was lost in thoughts about Emily. Even when Malcolm tried to upset Reese, he was unsuccessful. Nothing could wipe the smile off Reese's face, and that smile was still on his face when he went to bed and fell into a deep sleep looking forward to spending tomorrow with Emily.

* * *

**So what did you think? **

**Let me know and I'll update soon! See you then!**


	4. Moving Out and Comfort

**Hi everyone!**

**I'm so sorry that I've took so long to update, but I'm had so much going on with starting at Uni and all that! But I'm back now!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

**Hope you enjoy this one!**

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**~ CHAPTER FOUR ~**

**MOVING OUT AND COMFORT**

The next morning Emily was woken up by the sound of her parents arguing once again. She sighed as she felt tears form in her eyes and slowly fall down her cheeks. Emily realised that today was the last day her father would be living in their house and that upset her even more. In fact, as Emily got dressed the tears poured down her cheeks with increasing ferocity, especially as she heard the argument between her parents getting louder and louder and increasingly more ferocious.

Emily hated to admit it but she was nervous about going outside her room, because she knew that she would probably get shouted at, which was worse than getting ignored like she would from tomorrow when her parents went back to work. Emily took a deep breath and walked quietly out of her room and to the kitchen, trying desperately to stay out of the way of her parents.

Emily made herself a bowl of cereal, and sat at the table to eat it when suddenly, both of her parents stormed into the kitchen, paying no attention whatsoever to their daughter.

"You want plates and bowls to move into your apartment do you?" screamed Carol Johnson hysterically.

"Of course I do!" bellowed Peter Johnson "I paid for them!"

"Well here are your plates and bowls!" screeched Carol.

Then suddenly, without warning Carol took hold of various plates and threw them to the floor, smashing them into a million tiny pieces. Emily, who had not been expecting this jumped in an alarmed fashion, and flinched away from the noise while sobbing quietly to herself. However, her mother didn't stop there and proceeded to smash more bowls and plates around, as well as throwing Emily's father's suitcase out of the door.

To Emily's horror, a few minutes later her Dad walked out of the house taking all of his stuff with him and bellowing as he walked out of the door,

"I hope I never see you again!"

"The feeling is mutual!" screamed Carol, slamming the door behind him.

The fact that Emily's father had left so suddenly and had not even stopped to say goodbye to his daughter upset Emily immensely, but she knew she had to hold back the tears as she would get no sympathy from her mother. As if to reinforce this point, a couple of minutes after her Dad had left, Emily's Mum said in a vicious voice,

"I'm going to work; I won't be back until late!"

Emily didn't question her mother, she had learnt not to. Emily had learnt that her parents worked late and that was the end of it, no questions asked, it was easier like that, although it hurt Emily that her parents refused to let her into their lives and ignored her completely.

Without another word or even a glance in her daughter's direction, Emily's mother walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Once she was gone, Emily felt an overwhelming urge to cry, but she knew that before she gave way to her emotions she had to clean up the mess her parents had left. So, while running completely on adrenaline, blocking out her emotions, Emily grabbed the dustpan and brush, and swept up the pieces of broken china, before putting them in the bin, being very careful not to cut herself. All through this arduous process Emily could feel herself close to tears, but she held them back long enough to sweep everything up and walk to her bedroom.

Once she was in the safety of her bedroom, Emily decided to phone Reese, she couldn't do this on her own and she needed him to help her. With this in mind, Emily grabbed her phone and found Reese's number in her phone, and pressed the "call" button, while trying desperately to hold her tears back. The phone rang a few times before Reese's voice said,

"Hello?"

"Hey Reese!" said Emily, trying to make her voice sound upbeat "it's Em!"

"Oh, hey Em!" said Reese brightly "what are you up to?"

"Not much, I'm in the house on my own." said Emily, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Are you?" said Reese worriedly "are you all right?"

"Not really," said Emily truthfully "I don't really know if I'm all right."

"Do you want to talk about it Em?" asked Reese gently "I've got time, I'm not doing anything, just sat here reading."

"Can you come over?" asked Emily, her voice shaking with tears "it's OK if not, I just wandered. I could do with the company! My Mum's gone to work, and my dad stormed out this morning when he wasn't supposed to leave until this afternoon, I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"Oh Em, that's terrible!" said Reese "I'll come over straight away."

"You don't have to if you're busy." said Emily regretfully.

"No I'm not busy." said Reese, who was already pulling his jacket on "I'll come over right now!"

"Are you sure?" asked Emily.

"Yes." said Reese.

"Thank you." said Emily "the gate to the back garden is open, so go through that and my bedroom is the second window, do you think you can climb through it? I'll help you if you want."

"Yeah I'll get through it." said Reese "I'll be there in a second."

"OK, see you in a second." said Emily.

"Yeah, ok." said Reese.

Emily and Reese both hung up at the same time and Emily crossed the short distance from her bed to her window, opened it and looked outside, waiting for Reese to appear.

Sure enough, within a couple of minutes Emily saw Reese walking through the gate and up the garden, towards her open window. When he saw Emily, Reese smiled, and walked a bit faster. Emily managed a smile too, despite the fact that she could feel tears overtaking her.

Reese got to Emily's bedroom window and climbed inside Emily's room with ease, as Emily stood back, trying to compose her emotions. Reese stood up straight and looked Emily directly in the eyes before saying,

"Em are you all right?"

"Yeah I think I am." said Emily, hoping her smile didn't look fake.

"I don't think you are," said Reese "the twinkle that was in your eyes when I left you last night has disappeared."

"I'm just tired!" said Emily, in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

"Come on Em," sighed Reese "you and I both know that's not the truth don't we? Have your parents been arguing again, or is it because your Dad moved out?"

"Both!" said Emily, her voice breaking as she replied.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Reese in a caring voice, as he put his hand on Emily's shoulder.

"I don't want to bother you with all my problems Reese," said Emily "you have better things to do."

"Em, I want to know what's wrong, you won't be bothering me." said Reese truthfully "tell me what's wrong?"

"I don't even know where to start!" said Emily dejectedly, as she walked over to her bed, sat down and put her head in her hands.

It upset Reese to see Emily like this. He hadn't known her for long, but it had upset him yesterday when he had saw her upset, so seeing Emily hurting this badly again, hurt Reese more than he ever could have imagined.

Reese walked slowly over to where Emily was sat on the bed, taking a deep breath to steady his own emotions before he sat down next to Emily and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Take your time Em, we have all day." said Reese gently.

Emily sat in silence for a few minutes while she contemplated how to tell Reese what had happened. Reese sat with Emily, just keeping his arm around her and not saying anything. Reese knew that if he pushed Emily into talking, it would have the opposite effect and she would become silent instead, so he sat with Emily patiently waiting for her to talk.

"I can't believe my Dad's gone!" said Emily sadly, when she broke the silence.

"It'll be all right Em," said Reese "you'll still see him and it will get easier, I promise. You might not think it right now but it really will get easier!"

"He just left without even saying goodbye!" said Emily, as a few stray tears fell down her cheeks.

"Really?" said Reese, pulling Emily closer to him and squeezing her shoulders in a comforting manner "oh Em, that's terrible! I didn't know. He still loves you, you know that don't you?"

"I don't think either one of my parents care about me." said Emily, sighing as more stray tears fell down her cheeks.

"I'm sure they do," said Reese "they just don't show it."

"Maybe," said Emily "it just hurts that my Dad left without a second's thought about me."

"What happened when he left Em?" asked Reese gently.

"I was eating breakfast when I heard my Mum and Dad having a huge argument," said Emily, getting more and more upset "they came into the kitchen and were arguing about the china that my dad wanted to take with him, and it all got really vicious and my Mum threw the china on the floor, smashing it. Then my Dad left and Mum went to work and no one paid any attention to me!"

"Em, that's terrible," said Reese in a shocked voice "are you all right? You're not hurt are you?"

"Yes and no," said Emily truthfully "I'm all right physically, but I don't know about emotionally and mentally."

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Reese, tucking a lock of hair behind Emily's ear.

"I don't even know how I feel!" said Emily, almost hysterically.

"Just take your time," said Reese calmly "think about it and if you still don't know how you feel, just say everything that's in your head and your heart. I'll be here to listen, I'm not going anywhere."

"You mean it?" asked Emily.

"Yeah," said Reese, smiling warmly "I belong here with you and nowhere else, that's the truth."

There was a short silence between Reese and Emily, as Emily let Reese's words sink in. Normally if someone said that to her, she wouldn't believe them, but she instantly believed Reese, so she decided that she had to tell him what was going on in her head. Emily took a deep breath before starting to speak.

"I'm mixed up inside." she said, as some tears fell down her cheeks.

"What do you mean Em?" asked Reese.

"I'm scared, because my family is breaking up and I don't know what to do about it. Also I'm scared because of the arguments my Mum and Dad are having. I feel alone, because I never see my parents and now they're divorced, which makes it worse. I'm upset because of their divorce. I feel like their divorce and arguments are my fault. I feel angry because they don't pay attention to me. I feel lost because there seems to be no direction in my life because they don't pay attention to me. I feel like my life's spinning out of control and there's nothing I can do because I'm invisible and I don't matter and I feel like I'm falling deeper and deeper into a hole of despair and no one is going to be there to catch me!" said Emily, in a voice that sounded like it was going at a million miles an hour.

Before Reese could say anything or even react, Emily broke down in hysterical and heartbreaking sobs. Reese did the only thing that made sense at the time and hugged her tightly. Emily leant into Reese desperately seeking comfort, but Reese could not get a proper grip on her while he was hugging her, so he lifted Emily up and placed her inside his lap, and hugged her tightly.

Reese was glad that Emily didn't seem to mind being in his lap, because he didn't want her to panic about anything else, and besides, with Emily in his lap, it gave Reese a chance to hug her more tightly. However, there was also the fact that for both Emily and Reese, being in each other's arms like this felt so natural, even though it had never happened before.

"Shh Em, it's all right," said Reese quietly "just try and calm down, you'll be all right. I promise you that!"

"It's all m-m-my f-fault Reese!" sobbed Emily.

"No Em it's not." said Reese gently "don't you ever think that, it's not your fault and it never will be!"

"I d-don't k-know w-w-what t-t-to d-d-do Reese!" cried Emily.

"Well at the moment," said Reese soothingly "you just need to stay with me so I can calm you down, and we'll work out the rest later, trust me."

"R-Really?" stammered Emily.

"Yeah," said Reese in what he hoped was a reassuring voice "and by the way Em, you know you said you felt lost at the moment? Well I'll always find you, I'd search forever to find you, and I'll stop your world spinning out of control, I'll be able to see you when you're invisible and most of all I'll be there to catch you when you fall, and pull you out of that hole of despair."

"Y-You w-would d-do all th-that f-for m-me?" asked Emily in a shocked voice, looking up at Reese, while tears still ran down her cheeks.

"You bet I would!" said Reese smiling.

"W-Wow, thank y-you Reese!" said Emily, whose voice was still stuttering from tears, but who also managed a small smile.

"It's all right," said Reese shrugging "hey there's that smile back, but now we need to get rid of those tears really."

Before Emily could question what Reese meant, Reese wiped away her tears with his thumb. His touch was the gentlest touch that Emily had ever felt and it instantly sent shivers down her spine and made her realise that she actually did have someone who cared about her.

"But I think we also need to make sure that that smile stays on your face for a lot longer." said Reese, grinning mischievously, as he lifted Emily up and seated her next to him on her bed, while she looked confused.

"What are you doing Reese?" asked Emily suspiciously "I think you're planning something!"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," said Reese "you'll have to wait to find out won't you?"

"That's not fair!" said Emily, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Well, my mind won't be changed," said Reese grinning.

"Reese," said Emily in a pleading voice "please tell me what you're planning?"

"I can't!" said Reese, still grinning.

"Can you show me then?" asked Emily, smiling sweetly.

"Hmm, maybe." said Reese, as a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

"Please?" asked Emily, fluttering her eyelids "pretty please?"

"OK," sighed Reese "are you ready?"

"You bet!" said Emily excitedly.

With that Reese grinned and began to tickle Emily rapidly on the stomach. Emily dissolved into giggles, and ended up lying on the bed, making Reese beam with happiness. This continued for about half an hour and by that time Reese was laughing to himself as well, because Emily's giggles were just so infectious. After about half an hour, Emily shouted breathlessly through her giggles,

"Reese I can't breathe, please stop and I'll give you a hug!"

"Well now that might just be enough to make me stop," said Reese happily "as long as you promise!"

"I promise!" giggled Emily.

With that promise in mind, Reese stopped tickling Emily and helped her to sit up. Immediately Emily hugged Reese tightly, smiling when she felt Reese hug her back just as tightly. Soon after that, Reese pulled Emily into his lap and wrapped his arms around her again. This feeling was slowly and surely becoming very natural to both Emily and Reese, and they wouldn't want it to be any other way.

"Thank you Reese!" said Emily, who was resting her head on Reese's chest "for everything!"

"I didn't really do much." said Reese modestly.

"What are you talking about?" said Emily incredulously "you've done more than anyone else has ever done for me! You made sure I was all right. You sat with me through my tears and you cheered me up."

"Well I hate to see you upset," said Reese truthfully "it breaks my heart when you're upset so I want to cheer you up."

This last comment made Emily smile hugely, and she tightened her grip on Reese and leant into him more. Reese then smiled, and changed his and Emily's position so that they were lying down, face to face. At first Emily squealed with shock as Reese did this, but then, when she saw Reese lying next to her, she smiled and snuggled down into his embrace.

"You need someone to show you what it's like to be cared about Em." said Reese matter-of-factly.

"I know," said Emily sadly "but it's difficult for my parents to do that."

Again a single tear ran down Emily's cheek, and once again Reese spotted it, and gently wiped it away with his thumb before saying,

"Hey no more tears all right? I'm here now, and I'm going to look after you and show you what it's like to be cared for. My family will love you, not sure if you'll feel the same about them but they will love you!"

"I'm sure I'll love your family Reese." said Emily smiling.

"I'm not sure about that!" laughed Reese "my family are pretty weird!"

"I love weird!" said Emily smiling.

"That's all right then." said Reese "you should fit right in!"

Emily laughed, before a short comfortable silence between the two friends followed. Both Emily and Reese were quite comfortable lying on the bed with each other, they knew it seemed weird but it just felt right to them.

"So what do you want to do today, Em?" asked Reese.

"Don't know," said Emily truthfully "I really honestly don't know."

"Well what do you feel like doing?" asked Reese patiently "do you want to watch a film? Listen to music? Go to the park? Meet my family?"

"Can we watch a film?" asked Emily.

"Of course," said Reese "what do you want to watch?"

"Why don't you decide?" said Emily, smiling.

"Only if you want me to." said Reese.

Emily nodded, smiling. Reese didn't need telling twice so he got up off up of the bed and walked over to Emily's numerous collection of DVD's. Reese stood looking at Emily's DVD's for about five minutes before finally choosing Wayne's World, and taking it over to the DVD player. After that Reese climbed back onto Emily's bed and sat with his arm around her shoulders before saying,

"Do you want me to press play now?"

"I think we should get ice cream first," said Emily, smiling "what do you think?"

"Good idea!" exclaimed Reese "but what flavour?"

"Now that's a good question!" laughed Emily "come on, let's go see what's in the freezer."

With that, Emily and Reese climbed off the bed and walked downstairs into Emily's kitchen. Emily opened the freezer to reveal a multitude of ice cream flavours and Reese gasped in shock and excitement. There was almost every flavour there, from double chocolate chip to banana.

"Right take whatever flavours you want," said Emily, matter-of-factly "I'm going to make some popcorn and get some drinks."

Reese smiled, as he watched Emily walk into the kitchen, before taking various flavours of ice cream from the freezer including, double chocolate chip, Neapolitan, cookie dough, strawberry, vanilla, fudge, toffee, mint and chocolate. He carried them into Emily, and put them all on the worktop, and Emily laughed,

"Looks like we're not going to go hungry today!"

"No we won't," said Reese "this should be fun!"

"Mmmhmm," said Emily, who was preoccupied with putting the popcorn into bowls "well the spoons are in that drawer over there, can you take that lot upstairs?"

"Yes ma'am!" said Reese, grinning as he gave Emily a mock salute, before exiting the room.

Emily giggled to herself. She loved Reese's charm, he seemed like such an innocent, kind person and she couldn't understand why anyone would be mean to him. Emily poured the drinks and she was just about to grab them to take them upstairs when Reese came bounding into the room and said,

"What are you doing, Em?"

"Carrying these upstairs," said Emily "why?"

"No you're not," said Reese simply, as he took the mountains of food and drink out of Emily's arms.

"Reese, it's all right really," said Emily "I can manage."

"I don't care if you can manage or not, Em," said Reese defiantly "I'm not letting you carry these by yourself!"

Before Emily could even argue with Reese, he was out of the room and up the stairs. Emily sighed, as she thought that although she wanted to do these things by herself, sometimes it was best to let someone spoil her. Emily walked up the stairs and into her room to already find Reese sat on her bed with a tub of ice cream and two spoons, waiting for her.

"Come on Em!" he said excitedly.

Again Emily smiled and walked over to where Reese was sat, before sitting down next to him. Reese wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulders and handed her a spoon before pressing "PLAY" on the remote and tucking into the ice-cream himself. During the film, Emily and Reese laughed at the exact same times, and just generally had fun.

At the end of the film, both Reese and Emily had to wipe tears of laughter from their eyes and they smiled at each other before Emily said,

"I think we'd better tidy this up."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Reese smiling.

With that, Emily and Reese walked down the stairs and put all the rubbish in the bin before they decided to start the washing up. Reese was washing up and Emily was drying up. During this time Emily and Reese were both involved in a relaxed conversation about one of their greatest passions in life, wrestling.

"So who's your favourite wrestler then, Em?" asked Reese smiling.

"Edge, he's awesome," said Emily simply "what about you?"

"Same," said Reese "how creepy is that?"

"Wow!" said Emily smiling "that is creepy!"

The conversation continued for about ten minutes while Emily and Reese continued with the washing up. Both teenagers were captivated by each other and they simply wanted to spend all their time together. Then about ten minutes later, Reese who was washing up, took a pile of bubbles in his hand tapped Emily, who wasn't facing him on the shoulder.

"Hey Em, guess what?" he said grinning.

"What?" asked Emily curiously, as she turned around.

Reese grinned and he touched Emily's cheek with his hand, getting bubbles on her cheek. Then Reese brushed his finger against Emily's nose, causing bubbles to appear there too, as he chuckled as her shocked expression.

"Reese!" said Emily in mock annoyance "I can't believe you just did that!"

"Did what?" asked Reese, grinning and putting his hands behind his back, while trying to look innocent.

"This!" said Emily, smirking as she grabbed a handful of bubbles and smothered them in Reese's hair.

"Oh you're going to get it now!" said Reese happily.

"Really?" asked Emily, teasingly.

"Yes." said Reese, in a mock serious voice.

With that, Reese dipped his hands into the bubbles in the sink and piled the bubbles on Emily's head. She gasped in shock, but grinned all the same, as she did the same to Reese. Then Reese grabbed another handful of bubbles and set off to chase Emily who was now running around the table. Emily grinned as she got to the sink and grabbed another handful of bubbles and put them on Reese's shirt. Reese laughed as Emily set off at a run. Reese followed his friend's lead and caught up with her easily. Once he had caught up with Emily Reese wrapped his arms around her waist getting bubbles all over her shirt. Emily giggled in delight, as she lost her balance and fell over, knocking Reese over in the process, so that they both ended up on the floor laughing.

"That was fun!" said Reese happily.

"Yeah it was," said Emily, who was still giggling "thanks Reese."

"For what?" asked Reese.

"For cheering me up." said Emily.

"Hey it's no problem!" said Reese "I like to see you happy!"

Emily smiled as Reese hugged her before saying,

"You will be all right won't you Em?"

"Yeah, I should be," said Emily "thanks to you."

"That's good," said Reese "I'm really, really sorry Em, but I have to go, look over there, that's my mum, looks like she wants me to go home!"

"Oh, all right then," said Emily, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Hey don't worry, I'll see you tomorrow!" said Reese smiling "I promise! And by the way, how would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night?"

"I'd love to!" said Emily, feeling a bit happier now "will your family mind though?"

"No of course not," said Reese "I told my Mum about you last night and she really wants to meet you!"

"OK then, I'd love to come!" said Emily.

"All right then." said Reese standing up and helping Emily up "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"You know it." said Emily.

With that thought in mind Reese and Emily hugged each other tightly, holding onto each other for a little longer than necessary. When they let go of each other, both Emily and Reese were smiling and Reese said,

"Do you want to spend the day together tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." said Emily truthfully.

"OK then, I'll be round at your house by half past nine then." said Reese.

"I'll see you then!" said Emily happily.

"Can't wait!" said Reese excitedly as he hugged Emily again.

"Me either!" said Emily just as excitedly as she hugged Reese too.

Once they let each other go, Reese and Emily walked off in their separate directions. Once he got to the gate to go out of Emily's garden, Reese turned around to make sure Emily had got into her house safely, and to his delight, she was stood on her back door step looking back at him. Reese smiled and waved as Emily, who smiled and waved back. With that simple gesture in mind both Reese and Emily went their separate ways thinking about tomorrow.

* * *

**What did you think?? Let me know**

**I'll update soon, so see you then!**


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